


there’s a hope on the horizon

by blackpercy



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M, Gen, angst angst angst ansgt anSGT aNGST ANGST, this pure angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26110717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackpercy/pseuds/blackpercy
Summary: Max should have died in Supernova and the world should have been prodigy-less and y’all can quote me on that 😌✨
Relationships: Adrian Everhart | Sketch & Max Everhart | The Bandit, Nova Artino | Nightmare & Adrian Everhart | Sketch, Nova Artino | Nightmare/Adrian Everhart | Sketch
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Renegades Rewrites 😎





	1. we will remember your sacrifice

It would kill him.

As Nova watched the young boy carry the burden of Gatlon, she knew.

Max couldn’t survive absorbing all the powers in the world. Even if he had the strength of Captain Chromium he wouldn’t survive this.

Nova glanced at Adrian. He was desperately trying to revive Max, frantically wiping his golden tears and begging him to come back to him. She didn’t feel like she deserved to, but Nova reached out to wrap her arms around him.

“Adrian,” she whispered. “He’s not gonna make it.”

Adrian hadn’t been crying before, but he was crying now. The words neither of them wanted to say hung in the air. 

_This has to happen._

It’s the only way Gatlon could move forward. It was the only real way to equality. 

Max would have to die for Gatlon to survive.

Adrian reached out to his brother with a teary smile. He sniffed and ruffled Max’s hair.

“You’re a hero, buddy.”

A sob escaped his throat as he held Max as best as he could. Nova could feel Adrian’s sorrow, and the loss of Max and his powers made him waver. 

She kept holding him, paying no mind to her tears. What right did she have to shed them?

The world seemed to explode one more time. Gold pulsed brighter and brighter under Max’s veins. They created fissures that pushed apart his skin like tectonic plates. Raw energy coursed inside of Max.

The young boy seemed to glow. The air in between Nova, Adrian, and Max seemed to crackle with heat.

Golden streams of energy surrounded Gatlon City. Energy in all colors washed over the city like a wave. It filled the sight of the horizon with life and hope.

Max’s body was lifted into air, like a puppet on a string. Nova lifted her head to watch his ascension, her sight blurring with tears.

 _I’m sorry I failed you_.

Adrian sobbed as he watched him burn from the inside. Nova held him tighter as Adrian screamed in an agony she had felt years ago. Max burst into flames, the coppery gold strands of energy rushing into his small body at once. 

On the horizon, Renegades fell to their knees. Whether it was out of reverence or the fatigue that came with losing their powers, Nova didn’t know. She couldn’t concentrate on that. Her eyes seemed glued to the display of utter power, the final one in the history of the world.

Kneeling in the rubble, two more pairs of arms wrapped around her and Adrian. Hugh Everhart watched his son with a sad smile. Simon Westwood could only cry silently.

They weren’t the leaders of the Renegades right now, they weren’t even the confident heroes the media portrayed them as. They were fathers watching their child die in the most heroic way possible. They exuded the utmost pride in Max, also grief and regret. Nova knew because she felt it too.

Now, Max Everhart was like a dying star. Reaching his end with one more display of beautiful chaos. His light stretched to Gatlon. It chased away the darkness of Gatlon and illuminated it with a new hope. The broken glass buildings reflected the colors of energy. 

Then his body couldn’t take it anymore, the energy consumed him, and Max was gone.

For four minutes and sixteen seconds, Max had burned in midair. He had given his life for a better Gatlon.

Nova raised her hand to where Max had been hovering. 

She would make sure he’d be remembered.


	2. and carry your torch

His therapist had said that the grieving process differed for each person.

Adrian leaned his head against the window of the plane. He kind of missed being able to find a teleporting prodigy and go anywhere. Lani could have ran him anywhere in the world with her speed.

His therapist had suggested a change of scenery. Gatlon wasn’t home anymore. It was just a source of sorrow for him. 

Every single day, Adrian would pass the building Max had died. He still knew the exact spot Max was hovering in the air. He could still  _ feel  _ the energy that was pouring out of Max.

_ Max. _

His mischievous smile, his puffy hair that would never stay down, that  _ really  _ tiny dimple in his right cheek. 

They say the first thing you forgot about someone was their voice, but Adrian could  _ never  _ forget Max’s laugh.

Adrian remembered Max like he’d died (sorry,  _ passed _ , because apparently “died” is too insensitive) yesterday and not two years ago.

Adrian had quit being a Renegade. He couldn’t take it. The first time he had stepped into HQ after the Supernova, he’d had a panic attack.

After he had helped his dads with the rebuilding effort, and after he’d helped Nova with making Gatlon into a more democratic and independent state, Adrian had gotten accepted into art school.

Nova had encouraged him to go. She had smiled, kissed him, and said she’d wait longer than four years if he needed her to.

Adrian was thankful but he didn’t know if he ever wanted to return to Gatlon. Of course he wanted to go back to his family and Nova but Gatlon could never be his home again.

He needed time to process. Even though he had had two years, he had spent a year distracting himself by rebuilding Gatlon and the other year getting therapy and trying to get accepted into art school.

His dads had practically pushed him out of Gatlon. They had been the ones to get him therapy, they had been the ones to know what he was feeling when he didn’t tell anyone. They had been the ones to not say anything and just hug him when he felt too numb to cry.

His dads were some of the most supportive people in his life, and he’d be far worse off without them.

Adrian’s friends were supportive as well. 

Danna was going to Europe for college, she wanted to major in criminology. Oscar got accepted into culinary school, and Ruby had turned her martial art skills into ballet. She wanted to be a choreographer, so she’d be leaving for the London Conservatoire of Dance in three weeks.

They had exchanged teary goodbyes at the airport. They had all known that things wouldn’t be the same after the Supernova. They had trauma to finally work through, issues to deal with.

Adrian remembered what Ruby had quipped as she wiped her eyes.

“We’re some messed up kids, huh?”

It had been a joke, but they wouldn’t be moving so far from where they started if there hadn’t been some truth to it.

Adrian exhaled and flipped over his hoodie. He looked out the window and watched the skies. They were painted a light airy blue, the blue of hope and of new beginnings. Pink and gold stratocumulus clouds floated through the sky, the wing of the airplane gliding right over them.

Adrian wasn’t sure what awaited him on the West Coast, but he felt an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He felt hope.

Adrian held onto it like it was his life force. It was all he had right now, what with the uncertainty of everything. 

Despite this, Adrian felt that there was hope in his future. There was a rising hope in the perfectly painted sky.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave a kudos and a comment 🥺✨👉🏿👈🏿


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